NDSU freshman center Zach Parise (right) laughs with his dad, former North Stars player J.P. Parise, during a break in a Shattuck-St. Mary's team workout last week in Faribault. The elder Parise, director of hockey operations at the school, was a winger for the North Stars for seven seasons. sd12/17/02

MONTREAL, CANADA- CIRCA 1973: J.P. Parise #11 of the Minnesota North Stars skates with the puck during a game against the Montreal Canadiens Circa 1973 at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Denis Brodeur/NHLI via Getty Images)

71-year-old J.P. Parise and his wife Donna watch their son, Zach Parise, skate agaisnt the Chicago Blackhawks during the first period of game four of the first round of the Western Conference NHL playoff game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Tuesday, May 7, 2013. The former NHL star skated for the North Stars for nine years, and also played for the Bruins, Maple Leafs and Islanders over his 15-year career. (Pioneer Press: John Autey) (Pioneer Press: John Autey)

It is 6:30 p.m. in tony Prior Lake, time for J.P. and Donna Parise to maintain their routine, which means shutting down the small talk and revving up the Cadillac for the 45-minute commute to Xcel Energy Center for Game 4 of Minnesota’s quarterfinal playoff series against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Nervous energy fills the sedan as the Wild’s First Parents discuss watching their son, Zach, resident NHL superstar, go to work as season-ticket holders among the 19,000-plus reveling in the team’s first postseason in five years.

From his seat behind the net in Section 109, Row 15, Parise experiences his son’s triumphs and trials through multiple lenses. He played in 86 playoff games over 14 seasons, nine with the North Stars, so he knows about the pressure cooker of hockey in springtime.

He also has coached, scouted and administered pro and amateur hockey players.

But he is, first and foremost, a father.

“Parenting never ends. It’s not about winning. It’s not about championships. It’s wanting everything for your child, and for your child to be happy,” said Parise.

Donna Parise is anxious. Not about the result of this pivotal game, with the Wild trailing the best-of-seven series 2-1. The intensity has ramped up. So have the hits.

She is, first and foremost, a mother.

“Of course, you want him to play well, but I’m more nervous about the physical part of the game. It gets nasty down there,” she said.

Heading east on County Road 42, the conversation shifts to superstitions. They are mostly Donna’s, J.P. having abandoned his when he retired from playing in 1979.

She outwitted him for the aisle seat in Game 3.

“He started talking to some people in the row so I sat down there for the start of the third period and Zach scored, so I think I’m going to go with that tonight,” Donna said. “I’m pretty superstitious.”

She also started the habit before the game of rubbing the bald head of Doug Johnson, a former high school classmate in Albert Lea and an Xcel usher. Sure enough, Johnson would have his dome noogied after the couple arrived at the arena’s Alumni Club.

They met in 1971. She was on a date at her first NHL game at Met Center when a North Stars official approached and anointed her the 2-millionth fan to attend a game. The prize was a road trip to Montreal and Boston the following season. Donna took her sister.

J.P. and several of his teammates ended up at the same restaurant as the sisters in Boston. The randomness of their encounter is not lost on the couple.

“It was meant to be,” he said.

They married in 1976 and had two sons, Jordyn, in 1982. He is a goaltender playing in Europe. Zach was born in 1984 in Bloomington, where J.P. was a North Stars assistant coach.

The dashboard thermometer reads 78 degrees as the Cadillac zooms north on I-35E across the Minnesota River, J.P. glancing in the rear-view mirror as he reflects on his career.

He turned pro in 1962, but it took five years to sniff the NHL, which doubled its workforce by expanding to 12 teams from six. Parise was a proud captain and two-time all-star but never possessed the speed and elite playmaking of his son.

He did pass down to Zach the raging bull work ethic that made the old man a relentless forechecker who chased all type of opponents into the corners and invariably came out with the puck, all while supporting a pack-and-half per day cigarette habit.

“I’m always fascinated watching games wondering what would I do?” he said. “I couldn’t play in this day and age. The players are so good, they’re so well coached. Everyone shoots hard. Everyone blocks shots. I like to analyze, but it’s a completely different game.”

Donna is asked what it is like sitting next to a former NHL player during a game.

“He’s good. He likes to see good passing plays and is always talking about where certain players should be,” she said. “When Zach was little, he would always say, ‘Where is he going?’ But the puck always seemed to end up on his stick.”

“I learned quick that he’s got it all figured out,” J.P. said. “And a lot better than I did.”

At 7:15, Parise steered his Cadillac down the Kellogg Ramp, greeting the attendance with a “Bonsoire” (“Good evening for the un-French among us). Ten minutes later he and Donna check into the Alumni Lounge on the Club Level.

Former NHL player Shjon Podein of Rochester is there sipping a beer. His 6-year-old son, Shjon Daniel Podein, is sporting a Zach Parise jersey.

“That’s a smart kid there,” J.P. said.

“That’s not something I hear every day,” the boy’s father said.

Pretty soon former North Star Steve Payne has J.P. in a headlock.

“Who is this guy?” Parise asked.

“Your best student,” Payne said.

“Huh. More like my replacement,” Parise said.

The former teammates share a laugh. It was Payne who succeeded Parise as a power left wing midway through the 1978-79 season.

“I had nine goals at Christmas when our good friend Lou Nanne (former general manager) called me into his office and said Steve’s ready,” he recalled. “Suddenly, coaching looked a whole lot better.”

Payne tosses another log on the fire.

“The other day was just a warm-up for Zach. He better score a hat trick tonight. No pressure, though,” he said.

The Parises roll their eyes and laugh. Retired and utterly content, they scoop up their tickets and head for their seats.

Brian Murphy has been on the Pioneer Press sports staff since 2000, migrating from the Detroit Free Press, where he covered police, courts and sports for four years. Murphy was the Minnesota Wild/NHL beat writer from 2002 to 2008 and has covered the Vikings as a reporter and columnist since 2009. Murphy is a Detroit native and Wayne State University graduate.

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